Nov
20
Veteran’s Day
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Did you know there are several different names for Veteran’s Day?
Remembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day (the event it commemorates) or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.) The day was specifically dedicated by King George V, on 7 November, 1919, to the observance of members of the armed forces who were killed during war; this was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917.
Poppies
The poppy’s significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red color an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare. An American YMCA Overseas War Secretaries employee, Moina Michael, was inspired to make 25 silk poppies based on McCrae’s poem, which she distributed to attendees of the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries’ Conference. She then made an effort to have the poppy adopted as a national symbol of remembrance, and succeeded in having the National American Legion Conference adopt it two years later. At this conference, a Frenchwoman, Anna E. Guérin, was inspired to introduce the widely used artificial poppies given out today. In 1921 she sent her poppy sellers to London, England, where they were adopted by Field Marshall Douglas Haig, a founder of the Royal British Legion, as well as by veterans’ groups in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Some people choose to wear white poppies, which emphasizes a desire for peaceful alternatives to military action.
Veterans Day in the United States
Veterans Day is commemorated in the United States on 11 November, and is both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states. However, the function of the observance elsewhere is more closely matched by Memorial Day in May. In the United States, and some other allied nations, 11 November was formerly known as Armistice Day; in the United States it was given its new name after the end of World War II. Most schools, particularly more middle and high schools than some elementary schools, throughout the U.S. usually hold assemblies on a school day prior, with various presentations recognizing teachers and staff members who served in one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, as well as remembering the U.S. troops who died in past and present wars, and some patriotic music by a school choir, band and/or orchestra, including songs from a musical used as a tribute to the troops (e.g., “Bring Him Home” from Les Misérables).
Article excerpts taken from Wikipedia.org
Nov
5
Barack Obama elected president, FlagandBanner.com supplies
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President-elect Senator Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their daughters Malia and Sasha wave to supporters at his election night rally after Obama was declared the winner of the 2008 presidential campaign in Chicago, November 4, 2008. Standing proud behind President-elect Obama are the American Flags, bases, and ornaments purchased from FlagandBanner.com.
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Nov
3
History of Voting
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Article from ActiVote America
Early Voting
Did you know Ancient Greece had one of the earliest forms of democracy, since at least 508 BC? Each year, the Greeks had a negative election — voters were asked to cast a vote for the politician they most wanted to exile for ten years. Votes were written on broken pots, ostraka in Greek, and from this name comes our present word to ostracize. If any politician received more than 6,000 votes then the one with the largest number was exiled. If no politician received 6,000 votes then all remained. If there was a fairly even spread of votes, nobody would get over 6,000 and no one would get exiled — hence only very unpopular politicians were ostracized and exiled.
Voting Rights
The history of voting in America is a story of ever-increasing voting rights. The rules for eligibility have changed substantially since America’s founding, and continue to change today. When America was young, only white males over the age of 21 were allowed to vote. Some of the landmark changes since then:
Black Suffrage
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution were passed following the Civil War, in the later 1860s. They outlawed slavery and extended civil rights and suffrage (voting rights) to former slaves. The LEGAL right to vote for African-Americans was established, but numerous restrictions kept many blacks from ACTUALLY voting until the 1960s Voting Rights Act.
Direct election of Senators
The 17th Amendment made it so U.S. Senators were directly elected by popular vote. Prior to 1913, Senators were appointed. The President, of course, is still not elected by popular vote, but by the Electoral College. For example, in the presidential election of 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote but George Bush won the electoral college vote.
Women’s Suffrage
The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920. This amendment resulted from an international movement of “Suffragettes”. Women still lacked the right to vote in Switzerland until the 1970s, and as of 1990 women could not vote in Kuwait.
18-year-old vote
The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. This occurred in 1971, amid the Vietnam War, when 18-year-olds were routinely drafted and sent to war without the right to vote.
Voting
Systems
The system in use in the United States is by no means the world standard. For that matter, voting systems differ from state to state. Some voting systems you may not be familiar with:
Parliamentary System
The American voting system elects legislators based on one geographical district, by majority or plurality (whoever gets the most votes in that district wins). The districts are whole states for Senators and parts of states for House members. This is known as the “First-past-the-post” system.
In the parliamentary system, all legislators are elected at-large, meaning from the entire country’s electorate. Voters choose one party, and the party’s total votes determine how many legislative seats the party gets. The legislators are pre-determined on a list of party candidates. The Prime Minister is the person who is first on the list of the party which got the most votes.
The first-past-the-post system tends towards two parties, as we have in America. The parliamentary system favors multiple parties, since any party getting enough votes for even one seat, gets a voice in Parliament.
Instant Runoff Voting
I.R.V. is a system intended to help third party participation in a two-party system. Voters choose a first choice, second choice, and third choice. If their first choice loses, their vote transfer to their second choice candidate. For example, in 2000, voters might have voted first for Nader and second for Gore — allowing more expression of political preferences while eliminating the “spoiler effect”.
I.R.V. systems are in effect in several nations abroad, and also in numerous municipal elections in the U.S.
Fusion Voting
Fusion voting allows candidates to run under several party labels in one election. The largest example is New York State. Candidates often run as both Democrats and Liberal Party nominees; or as Republicans and Right-To-Life Party nominees. Third-party participation is encouraged because voters can choose a person AND a party, since the person’s name appears once under each party. Much negotiation occurs to get the third-party nominations by major-party candidates, which is absent in states without fusion voting.
Voting equipment
The Supreme Court case of Bush v. Gore in 2000 highlighted the inadequacies of Florida’s voting equipment. Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to address some of the problems. Now voters have the right to cast a provisional ballot if their status is disputed; and people with the same names as felons are not routinely removed from voting rolls. Future controversy may center around electronic voting equipment because of the lack of a paper trail for manual recounts.
Future of Voting
World Democracies
What’s the world’s largest democracy? It’s NOT America!
In the 2004 election in India, 380 million people voted — more than the entire population of the United States. India conducts its voting on multiple days, moving thousands of voting machines from one province to the next.
Perhaps America will take some ideas for future electoral reforms from other democracies around the world. Some ideas follow.
Ballot Box and Donor Box
Voting was not secret in the United States until the mid-1800s. Prior to that, voters would be sworn in and announce their choices by voice. The secret ballot box was seen as a means to increase voter participation (because voters would not be scrutinized for how they voted) but also has problems with fraud (because there’s no direct verification that the voter’s intent was followed).
Some reformers want to apply the secret ballot box to campaign donations. Campaign finance reform is an ongoing debate in the U.S. Congress — with the McCain-Feingold rules taking full effect in 2004 — and this area is open to further reform. One such reform idea is to hide all donor information from the candidates, like votes are hidden, so that elected officials never know from whom their donations come, and hence cannot inappropriately reward their donors. The opposite reform for he same goal is to make donors as public as possible, to allow scrutiny of elected officials and their donors.
Future Voting Reforms
Many reformers in America call for multi-day voting as a way of increasing participation. Other reforms include:
* Same-day registration: In Minnesota, people can register to vote on election day. This greatly increases turnout and was widely credited with Gov. Jesse Ventura’s 1998 electoral victory.
* Weekend voting: Why do we vote on Tuesdays? Changing to Saturday and/or Sunday voting would increase turnout substantially.
* Mail-In Voting: In Oregon, all voting is conducted by mail. In many other states, absentee voters must sign a statement that they were unable to get to the polls on election day. Removing restrictions against absentee and mail-in voting are coming in several states.
* Non-partisan primaries: Why can’t Democrats vote in Republican primaries? Independent non-party-aligned voters are the majority in some states now. Cross-over voting in primaries would transfer power from the parties to the people.
* Under-age voting: 17-year-old voting in municipal races would get candidates to campaign in high schools, and students could get used to voting before setting off on their own.
* Immigrant voting: Several communities with high immigrant populations allow Green Card holders (non-citizens) to vote in municipal elections. Municipal immigrant voting increases civic participation at a level that matters to residents, whether citizens or not.
* Controversy over voting rights: Increasing voting rights is always controversial, because incumbent politicians are always weakened by having more voters (and hence more potential challengers’ power bases). For example, in Cambridge Massachusetts, the voters approved immigrant voting rights, but the State Legislature declined to enact the approved bill.
Sources
* Black suffrage: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/dp/pennies/1870_black.html
* The history of voting: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Voting.html
* Women’s Suffrage: http://www2.worldbook.com/features/whm/html/whm010.html
* African-American Voting rights: http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/golrec.html
* Voting equipment: http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Voting.html
* Voting history: http://americanhistory.si.edu/vote/intro.html
* India voting: http://www.neoncarrot.co.uk/h_aboutindia/india_election_stats.html
* HAVA Act: http://www.fec.gov/hava/hava.htm
* Instant Runoff Voting: http://www.massirv.org
ActiVote America is a non-profit grassroots organization committed to a non-partisan approach that EDUCATES adults, new citizens and children in our country about the function and process of government; provides resources for learning about political candidates, understanding political issues and how these issues may affect their lives; and reminds Americans of the significance of using their voice to make a difference by exercising their RIGHT TO VOTE in local and national elections.
Don’t forget to VOTE!